About Blake Shaw

I am a photographer based in San Diego. I now specialize in bird photography, but also regularly photograph scenes of Mexico, Route 66, tennis, bicycle racing, flowers, and people. My work hangs in galleries in San Diego and elsewhere, and I am available for slide shows, lectures, and exhibitions.

August 23, 2016

American Crow

Three American Crows return to their roost near the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California.

One of my favorite things in bird photography is to try to place a bird in front of the rising moon or setting sun (very occasionally a rising sun or setting moon!) And yes, in the camera, not in Photoshop...

In the right setting, it is not as difficult as it would seem, though a bit of luck certainly helps. (It also helps not to leave once the sun sets!)

For instance, every night, well after sunset at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, hundreds, if not thousands of American Crows fly from west to east looking for their evening roost. On a night with a nearly full moon, such as last Wednesday, in the right position many of these crows will appear to fly in front of the moon.

Since the crows were somewhat distant and difficult to focus on, I pre-focused on a crow in a group flying past. I then waited for another group at a similar distance to fly in front of the moon, shot, and hoped for the best! This was the most successful of the images, since the bird is "entering" the moon, rather than leaving it, is in a bright area of the moon, and has its wings up in a pleasing position.

Processing the image in Photoshop is a bit of a challenge. Due to the very low light in the sky, there is a lot of digital noise present (though with the new Nikon D500, not nearly as much as would be present from an older camera). I applied very heavy noise reduction only to the sky, but not to the moon. Keeping the sky dark (as it was in person) keeps the appearance of noise to a minimum as well. I then increased the contrast in the moon to bring out its features. I am pleased with the result. (tap or click to enlarge)

Here are links to three of my earlier attempts at birds in front of the sun or moon. Here, here, and here!